Do I need a visa to go to India?

The Indian motto is “Athithi Devo Bhava” meaning “Guest is God”. The people here believe in treating a foreign guest with best they can. The country opens its arms to the entire world to come and visit, but following a little bit of procedure. Visa being the most crucial part of the paper work, is subjective to each country. Here is our answer to the question, “do you need a visa to go to India”.

Visa Free Entry

Based upon historic instances and modern policy changes, only citizens of three countries can step into the Territory of Indian subcontinent without a Visa.

These countries are:

Bhutan

Nepal

Maldives, *the visa free entry of Maldivians is conditioned to only 90 days after which they need to acquire Visa.

Exceptions: any citizen of the above-mentioned country is not allowed Visa free entrance if he or she is coming from Mainland China.

Visa Exemption for People of Indian Origin Card Holders

People of Indian Origin are those who do not give up their Indian Citizenship even after migrating abroad. Usually, POI, holding the POI card does not require a visa to enter the country.

Exception: A POI residing in the following countries cannot avail Visa-Free entry invoking his card:

Afghanistan

Bangladesh

Bhutan

China

Nepal

Pakistan

Sri Lanka

Visa on Arrival

This is a provision where citizens of certain countries can avail Visa after entering the country, at certain international airports in India like:

Chennai

Bengaluru

Mumbai

Hyderabad

Cochin

Delhi

Goa

Trivandrum

The countries allowed this facility are:

Australia

Brazil

Cambodia

Fiji

Finland

Germany

Indonesia

Israel

Japan

Jordan

Kenya

Kiribati

Laos

Luxembourg

Mauritius

Mexico

Myanmar

Nauru

New Zealand

Norway

Oman

Palau

Palestine

Papua New Guinea

Philippines

Republic of Korea

Russia

Singapore

Thailand

UAE

Vietnam

Terms and Conditions

A “Tourist Visa on Arrival” will only be granted if the following Terms and Conditions are upheld:

The sole objective of the traveler should be tourism, recreation, sightseeing, visiting family or relatives, short medical treatment or casual business.

The validity of passport should be of at least 6 months.

The return journey tickets should already be booked.

Travelers of Pakistani Origin or holding Pakistani Passports will not be eligible.

The Visa is granted for a period of 30 days for a single person.

With the same visa, only two entries are allowed with each one being two months apart.

Before voyaging to India, the traveler must access the Visa to India application form on the online portal. The website would require you to upload scanned copies of the required documents, the filled application and pay a fee online. You can then receive an E-Visa.

Pre Arrival Visa

Apart from the above listed countries, people from rest of the world, need to apply Visa prior to the travel. There are 181 countries which fall under this category including USA, UK, China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and so on.

Now that you know where your country stands in the list, it is time to prep up accordingly, pack your bags and fly to India!